Carrier for books and small articles



Och 6 c. F. OECHSLE 3,346,155

' CARRIER FOR BOOKS AND SMALL ARTICLES Filed Dec. 5, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 10, 1967 c OECHSLE 3,346,155

CARRIER FOR BOOKS AND SMALL ARTICLES Filed Dec. 5, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 W l I r ATTORNEY5 United States Patent 3,346,155 CARRIER FOR BOOKS AND SMALL ARTICLES Carl F. Oechsle, 102 Farmington Ave., Longmeadow, Mass. 01106 Filed Dec. 3, 1965, Ser. No. 511,411 4 Claims. (Cl. 224-9) The present invention relates to carriers for "books and small articles and is particularly directed to the provision of means to be used by students for the transportation of books, writing materials and other small articles between home and school. Its primary object is to provide a carrying means by which the transportation of such books and other materials may be accomplished with greater safety and convenience to the boy or girl and protection of the books from rain or snow than devices of this general character which have heretofore been devised and used.

It will be appreciated by all who are familiar with the problems attending the transportation of books, school lunches, writing materials and other small objects between the school and home that the loads to be carried vary widely in size, shape and character, and that a carrying means should have adaptability to house safely the various different objects which are to be transported. The desirability of providing effective means for transferring the weight of the load to be carried to the person doing the carrying have long been appreciated, but little has been done to provide the person who must bear the load with means capable of wide adjustment in order to minimize the strain of performing the carrying or transportation operation.

The present invention is designed to provide the person who must transport from place to place loads which vary in weight, size and shape with means to transfer the weight to be carried to those portions of the body which are able to support thatweight with the least fatigue and inconvenience. Where the load to be carried is light, a simple supporting means to be grasped by the hand is desirable and available. When the load is heavier the container-supporting means may be adjusted so that the person who is carrying it may transfer its weight to either shoulder. Where the nature of the load to be carried indicates that it can be most conveniently carried upon the persons back, the carrying means may be again adjusted so that the container can be positioned against the back and the load supported from both shoulders. The container may likewise befreely suspended from a single carrying element loosely placed upon One shoulderfIn other words, the invention contemplates the use of a container-suspending means which may be readily adjusted at the option of the user to transfer the weight of the load to the body in that fashion which is most suitable to the bearer.

In the accompanying drawings, one embodiment of the invention is disclosed and will be described in detail. Other embodiments or modifications are contemplated.

FIGURE 1 illustrates, in outline, the figure of a student with the container resting against his or her back, the supporting strap being held in the manner shown, passing from the container over the bearers shoulder and being grasped by one hand;

FIGURE 2 is a generally similar view in which the container rests against the back of the carrier and is shown to be supported by means including two supporting straps arranged as loops, the weight of the container and contents being transferred to both shoulders;

FIGURE 3 illustrates the supporting means adjusted for hand-carrying of the container;

FIGURE 4 illustrates the manner in which the supporting means may be adjusted in order to transfer the weight of the container to either shoulder of the carrier;

FIGURE 5 is a side elevation of the container, partly broken away, and the two supporting straps, one strap being shown in position to function as a load-carrying strap and the other being disposed Within the container and in inoperative position;

FIGURE 6 is a generally similar view but showing both supporting straps arranged in functioning position;

FIGURE 7 is an end view of the container, partly broken away, showing a separable fastener attached to I a supporting strap and a container fixture the terminal end of which constitutes the part to which the separable fastener is detachably secured; and

FIGURE 8 is a perspective view of a generally U- shaped, substantially rigid member which comprises a portion of the container.

The container is generally indicated at 10 and may be of any desired size and shape, preferably, however having a greater length than width and sufficiently high to receive school books and like objects of substantial size, the container being sufficiently self-supporting to retain its shape when in use under load. A cover flap 11 may be raised to permit the introduction and removal of articles, but it will be understood that the shape and details of construction of the container may be varied Widely to suit individual needs and conveniences.

I prefer to utilize a container which is generally rectangular in vertical and transverse section, as shown, formed of sheet plastic material, leather or stiffened fabric and to utilize the generally U-shaped member 12 as a reinforcing or shape-retaining member, the Wider bottom portion 12 of which is within and forms the upper portion of the two-ply container bottom and the parallel upwardly extending arms 12 of which are of reduced Width comprise stiffening members for the container ends being disposed, for the major portion of the length of each, within the container and against its end wall, but terminating in an outwardly offset portion 12 without. the container, the container end walls being slotted to permit the passage of 'arms 12 therethrough, as shown. The upper ends of arms 12 are enlarged and provided with apertures 12 sufiiciently wide to permit the free passage. of the supporting straps and the terminal portions 12 comprise means to which the end of a supporting strap may be detachably secured or which may serve as an anchor or retainer for the mid-portion of a supporting strap, in a manner to be described. Preferably the wider mid-portion of member 12 and the underlying portion of the container wall are secured together by rivets 14, the exposed rounded lower ends of which comprise elements which engage any support upon which the container may be placed and which thus minimize Wear of the bottom fabric. The material of which member 12 is fabricated is of such character, whether of metal or molded plastic, that this member will retain its shape and will be able to withstand without failure the impact of books or other articles placed in the container.

The carrying means include two elongated and relatively narrow strap members 15 and 16, respectively, of approximately the same length. In the form of invention selected for illustration by way of example, each strap has one end permanently secured to one end of the container by rivets 17, this end of each strap being positioned intermediately adjacent outwardly offset upper end portion 12 of member 12 and the container end wall so that rivets 17 securely anchor it in place. The other end of each strap is provided with means for detachably securing it to the opposite end of the container. This means may comprise a fastener comprising a hook 20 with spring retainer 21. It will be appreciated, however, that, within the intent of the invention, each strap may have both of its ends detachably secured to the container 10 and also that separable fasteners of various kinds may be employed.

In FIGURE of the drawings, the strap 15 is shown to have one end 15 permanently connected to an end of the container, to have been passed through the aperture formed in the upper end of portion 12 of member 12 and to have been doubled back upon itself with its end 15 secured to member 12 by the separable fastener means described. The second strap is housed within the container, not being needed with strap 15 disposed as shown and when the load carried by the container is relatively light. The manner in which the container may be carried with this arrangement of supporting straps is shown in FIGURE 3 of the drawings. The arrangement may be such, however, that the second strap 16 may also be employed as a supporting strap so that the carrying means thus provided will include, at the point where grasped, four strap portions. Each strap may be provided with means whereby its length may be varied. As shown in FIGURE 6 each strap may be formed in two portions connected by any suitable means 22 which permits it to be extended or shortened and thereafter secured in ad justed condition.

With the strap disposed as shown in FIGURE 6, the weight of the container may be transferred to either shoulder of the person bearing the load, the strap crossing the body diagonally to that shoulder remote from the container when this is desired, as shown in FIGURE 4.

Alternatively, the strap may be arranged as shown in FIGURE 2 and this is a particularly effective arrangement when the load to be carried is of substantial Weight as both shoulders of the wearer are equally loaded. The adaptability of the containercarrying means is further indicated in FIGURE 1 of the drawings, the container being suspended by a single strap which may have been extended if necessary, which passes over the shoulder of the wearer and is grasped at its mid-point, the cont-ainer resting against the bearers back.

As previously stated, the details of construction of the container may be varied widely, but it is preferred that the container be substantially shape-retaining regardless of the weight of the load which is placed in the container. The details of construction of the separable fastening means employed may, as previously explained be modified substantially, if desired. Other modified forms of the invention may be adopted to suit certain circumstances.

What I claim is:

1. Means for the convenient and safe transportation by bearer of books and small articles comprising a container and two carrying straps,

a first single means fixed to said container for attaching both ends of one strap to the container at one load-bearing point, at least one of the ends being releasably secured to said first means,

a second single means fixed to said container for attaching both ends of the second strap to the container at a load-bearing point spaced from said first means, whereby the straps form two spaced shoulder-engaging loops by which the weight of the container may be transferred to both shoulders of the wearer,

said second means including means formed to receive said one strap at a point intermediate its ends at least equal to the distance between said first and second means, thereby forming a carrying handle as an alternate to utilizing both straps as shoulderengaging loops.

2. The means for the convenient and safe transportation of books and small articles by bearer as claimed in claim 1 in which at least one of the ends of said second strap is releasably secured to said second attaching means and said first means is formed to receive said second strap at a point intermediate its ends at least equal to the distance between said first and second means, thereby forming a second carrying handle for use conjointly with said carrying handle formed from said first strap as an alternate to utilizing both straps as shoulder-engaging loops.

3. The means for the convenient and safe transportation of books and small articles by bearer as claimed in claim 1 in which a member extends from said first attaching means to said second attaching means, a portion of said member constituting a reinforcement for the bottom of said container.

4. The means for the convenient and safe transport-ation of books and small articles by bearer as claimed in claim 1 wherein at least one of said straps is provided with adjustment means whereby its length may be changed.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 593,640 11/1897 Caldwell 224-28 2,745,524 5/1956 Plotkin l-57 FOREIGN PATENTS 738,091 10/1932 France. 864,725 1/ 1941 France. 857,965 1/1961 Great Britain. 237,293 8/ 1945 Switzerland.

GERALD M. FORLENZA, Primary Examiner.

F. E. WERNER, Assistant Examiner. 

1. MEANS FOR THE CONVENIENT AND SAFE TRANSPORTATION BY BEARER OF BOOKS AND SMALL ARTICLES COMPRISING A CONTAINER AND TWO CARRYING STRAPS, A FIRST SINGLE MEANS FIXED TO SAID CONTAINER FOR ATTACHING BOTH ENDS OF ONE STRAP TO THE CONTAINER AT ONE LOAD-BEARING POINT, AT LEAST ONE OF THE ENDS BEING RELEASABLY SECURED TO SAID FIRST MEANS, A SECOND SINGLE MEANS FIXED TO SAID CONTAINER FOR ATTACHING BOTH ENDS OF THE SECOND STRAP TO THE CONTAINER AT A LOAD-BEARING POINT SPACED FROM SAID FIRST MEANS, WHEREBY THE STRAPS FORM TWO SPACED SHOULDER-ENGAGING LOOPS BY WHICH THE WEIGHT OF THE CONTAINER MAY BE TRANSFERRED TO BOTH SHOULDER OF THE WEARER, 